A Ministry of Labor committee today proposed next year raising the minimum monthly wage from NT$28,590 to NT$29,500 and the minimum hourly wage from NT$190 to NT$196, an increase of 3.18 and 3.16 percent respectively.
The Executive Yuan would have to approve the proposal.
Prior to the committee meeting, labor unions called for a minimum wage hike of at least a 3 percent to match public sector salary growth, while employer representatives said that there was room to raise the minimum wage despite US tariff pressures.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions, Confederation of Taipei Trade Unions and Taiwan Federation of Financial Unions told a news conference this morning before the meeting that they hoped to raise the minimum wage for the 10th consecutive year.
It would be reasonable to increase the minimum wage by 4 percent based on consumer price index and GDP data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions president Tai Kuo-jung (戴國榮) said.
That would raise the monthly minimum wage from NT$28,590 to NT$29,734 and the minimum hourly wage from NT$190 to NT$198 to meet the basic living needs of marginal workers, Tai said.
The adjustment would reflect inflation and increase the purchasing power of marginal workers, stabilizing social consumerism, he said.
As the salaries of public servants, teachers and military personnel rose an average of 3 percent this year, the minimum wage should be increased by at least the same amount, he added.
Rising living costs and persistent inflation are eroding workers’ purchasing power, and although Taiwan’s economy is projected to grow more than 4 percent next year, those gains have not reached grassroots workers, risking negative real wage growth and a widening wealth gap, Tai said.
Most minimum wage workers are employed by small and medium-sized enterprises and traditional industries, not high-growth sectors such as information and communication technology and semiconductors, Chinese National Federation of Industries executive director Sam Ho (何語) said.
Ho said that he supports raising the minimum wage, but the amount would be decided by the committee.
With Taiwan’s rising inflation, workers struggle without wage increases, while employers also face greater burdens due to tariffs, committee member Yu Yu-chih (余玉枝) said.
There is room to adjust the minimum wage, but it is important to work together to overcome the challenging environment created by tariffs, Yu said.
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